Over one thousand vascular plant species are known to occur within the Átl’ka7tsem/Howe Sound Biosphere, represented by 18216 occurrence records. This diverse flora spans nine biogeoclimatic units, from lowland coastal western hemlock forests and associated woodland communities to high elevation subalpine and alpine plant communities.
Explore the region’s flora by selecting from the biogeoclimatic units displayed on the map:
While Indigenous knowledge of Átl’ka7tsem’s plant life traces back to time immemorial, Western scientific documentation of the region’s flora dates to 1897, with the early collection efforts of James Anderson and Albert J. Hill. Over the last century and a half, efforts to document the regional flora were most concentrated in the 1920s, and from the 1960s through the 1980s, before expanding significantly in the 21st century with the advent of iNaturalist, with many thousands of observations made by community members through the Howe Sound Biodiversity project.